Dear Brain Dead,
As a member of the once-proud Liberal Party of Canada and as part of the 62% majority of Canadians that didn't vote for Stephen Harper, please explain to us why the heck you just didn't vote down the economic update first, then announce your wonderful, glorious coalition!
Please, oh please, tell us oh great minds. We would love to know.
Yours truly,
The What Do I Know Grit
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
lol. James, that is the first time I've agreed with you! I've been wondering the same thing for the past week.
Even more, why did they vote for the Throne Speech and express confidence in the Conservative Government a week or so ago?
Perhap time for a dishonourable sneak attack.
Perhaps even considered today by the GG.
Hey, I'm actually agreeing with you.
Sorry, but that Layton is a real piece of work...he's been all over the place trying to deal with everyone.
Why the hell did they let everyone know their plans ahead of time.
Stupido
I'm with you on that & have had the same thought the last few days. Why did they go public ahead of time?
Trying to be open & honest I suspect. Only we all got screwed.
C'mon James you know the plan would have to run by caucus and hte leadership candidates first and that it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to keep such a deal secret before a non-confidence vote.
If the deal weren't announced literally within hours of a non-confidence vote (which not all caucus members would have attended if they weren't reassured there would be no election) Harper would have gone to the GG and asked for an election and she would have granted one before any coaltion could be announced.
This after the fact complaining doesn't help anything. The PM has a HELL OF A LOT MORE powers than the opposition so there was really no way to end up different.
All this hindsight bias is a bit much, all of you know better really.
Wondered that too.
But wouldn't the timing have been awfully tight? And how one earth could the coalition parties have kept everybody quiet about it?
Surely they'd have had to work out much of the details beforehand.
Once a non-confidence motion is passed, then there's little time b/t that and the PM's call for dissolution. Am I right? (Truly, am unaware of the logistics or timing of such things.)
Our MPs need to protest on the Hill the closure of Parliament every damn day.
The key thing is now is how do we make sure Harper doesn't recover and successfully re-brant himself as Mr. Sweater Vest again.
If we don't vote him out at the next opportunity he will recover and he will call an election when a new leader is elected and soundly defeat him. We have a choice: hold together or fall apart and give Harper a majority by this time next year.
Me too.
"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
-The Art of War http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html
I can't speak officially for anyone but myself but there were major considerations, I would assume, that required a well-heeled plan. Imagine the market turmoil if they had just showed up last Monday and voted down the government. With the economy as issue #1, that could have been a huge mistake - even if Dion et al immediately came out of the house and announced the coalition.
Rolling it out over that weekend helped to prove that Steve was turning back to his Reform roots and that he knew he'd made a huge mistake - thus having to back down from the funding and strike issues.
At the same time, the coalition crew had time to explain their mission and the reasons for it to the public. So, I don't necessarily think that trying to spring it on everyone as a surprise would have been the smartest thing to do - especially not in this economic climate.
I'll tell you one thing that this mess of a day has produced and that's a rather impressive Bob Rae who hasn't been shy at all to face the media cameras. Where the fuck is Ignatieff anyway? Not good, Michael, not good.
they don't want an election, they want the GG to hand power to them. If they didn't orchestrate it this way they'd run a high risk of triggering an election, which they absolutely do not want. In fact, I'd wager that if the GG told them she would not prorogue, allow a non-confidence vote on Monday but remind them that there is a distinct possibility that we would go to an election vs coalition, they would run screaming from the room
Ok, just watched Iggy finally weigh in on the GG's decision. It just boggles the mind that this guy is supposedly the front-runner for the leadership. It is so blatantly obvious that politics is not this guys forte.
BAM! You're hired!!
Well said, James!
It's been a while since I've read you... but now I remember what I was missing. :D
Seems to me that really would have been a backdoor deal.
Everything here is transparent, as it should be.
Problem: Other than The Star (slightly Liberal) CBC (neutral), entire media is pro-con & anti-rest. So you can do everything openly and in accordance with all traidtions, laws, etc., media will STILL present as backdoor "coup". So should have done backdoor deal anyway? No. Still gotta do the right thing. Otherwise what's the differnce or point?
Ah yes, because a completely secret deal which only became public when Stéphane Dion emerged alongside Layton and Duceppe and announced "actually, no, I'm your leader now!" would have been a great idea.
Folks had half-a-week to digest this, and that wasn't enough. A month-and-a-half will be enough if it ever gets digested at all, but ZERO time is definitely too little.
Saphorr,
That would have been awesome! Make Question Period like a Friday episode of the Bold & The Beautiful! :D
Ya, I guess being sneaky is always the best policy.
Post a Comment